Erykah Badu prefers the lights dimmed low. Upon arriving at a private room in London’s Soho Hotel, the singer, actor, producer, and registered doula requested a comfortable seat and a green juice to set the right atmosphere. She had spent the previous evening with comedian Dave Chappelle, playing songs on a grand piano until the early hours. While she remains coy about the specifics of that late-night session, the 55-year-old artist maintains a mischievous presence, her gold teeth catching the light as she reflects on her creative journey.
Badu is currently discussing her latest projectBefore the World Blows: The Abi and Alan Experimenta collaborative record with the renowned underground producer the Alchemist. This release marks her first full-length project since the 2015 mixtapeBut You Caint Use My Phone. The new material features a dense, layered sound that echoes the internet-influenced aesthetic of her acclaimedNew Amerykahalbums from 2008 and 2010.
When asked why she waited over a decade to release a new project, Badu explains that the delay is intentional. She believes that procrastinating, living, and learning are essential components of the creative process. According to Badu, it is vital to gather data and upload as much experience as possible. When her internal capacity feels full, she downloads that information through the act of writing music. She views herself as an ever-changing vessel, constantly absorbing the world around her.
Badu’s career as a star began in 1997 with the release of her debut albumBaduizm. The record established her as a central figure in the neo soul movement, a term coined by music executive Kedar Massenburg to describe a new wave of alternative soul and R&B. The Alchemist, whose real name is Alan Maman, recalls being a fan since those early days. While working as a roadie for Cypress Hill during the 1997 Smokin’ Grooves tour, he watched her show every night. He never imagined he would eventually collaborate with her.
Maman’s own career has evolved significantly, producing hits like Mobb Deep’s 1999 trackThe Realestand working with underground acts such as Armand Hammer and Mike & Wiki. A chance encounter with a mutual friend, Cold Cris, led to a meeting with Badu. They quickly realized they shared a similar creative philosophy. Badu describes Maman’s compositions as classical, noting his ability to layer chimes, strings, horns, and voices. She finds their collaborative process to be a burning, beautiful fire that consistently gives her chills.
Some of the new songs are autobiographical, while others serve as messages for her daughters, Puma, born in 2004, and Mars, born in 2009, as well as for young people navigating modern initiations. Badu, who also has a 28-year-old child, observes that today’s youth lack the same freedoms she enjoyed before the rise of social media. She believes everyone is vibrating at a higher rate now, though she notes that a shared sense of humor remains a crucial foundation for connection.
Born in Dallas, Texas, Badu was raised by an actor mother and an uncle who was a dedicated record collector. Her grandmother provided her with her first piano. During her childhood, she found inspiration in artists like Earth, Wind & Fire, Joni Mitchell, Parliament Funkadelic, and Phoebe Snow. She began her professional music career while studying theater at Grambling State University in Louisiana, after receiving a cassette tape of beats from her cousin, Robert “Free” Bradford. That collaboration became the foundation forBaduizmwhich reached number two on the US charts.
The transition to her second album, 2000’sMama’s Gunwas marked by significant life changes, including the birth of her son, Seven, with André 3000, and a subsequent split. She credits artists like Joni Mitchell with helping her re-center during difficult times, admiring Mitchell’s ability to use her voice as a pure, scaled-back instrument. Badu remains close with her former partners, including André 3000, who provided a guest verse for her 2015 mixtape.
Beyond music, Badu has built a career as a certified doula. She entered the field by accident in 2001 after supporting a friend through a 52-hour labor. She officially received her certification in 2006. Between 2001 and 2023, she supported two mothers annually, balancing this work with a touring schedule that occupied eight months of her year. She coached these mothers through pregnancy, emphasizing the importance of what she calls the five doctors: sun, earth, nutrients, air, and water.
Badu also applies her doula philosophy to end-of-life care, viewing it as an extension of her artistic practice. She compares the experience of supporting someone through death to the energy of performing on stage. In both instances, her goal is to help the room become a single, living, breathing organism. Whether through music or caregiving, Badu remains focused on the human experience, constantly gathering data to inform her next evolution. The report also notes that but declines to go into detail about what, exactly, went on, she looks mischievous when she thinks about the impromptu party. The report also notes that instead, the 55-year-old smiles at me, eyes wide, her gold teeth glinting in the low light: “Oh yes,” she says slowly and quietly, like some kind of mysterious warlock. The report also notes that meeting Badu, in other words, is everything you want it to be and more. The report also notes that it’s surprising, I suggest, that she has taken so long between records, given how much she analyses the world around her. The report also notes that a handful of wild, boundary-pushing records have made Badu one of the most revered artists in the world, in the years since. The report also notes that and the pair, he says, “instantly became friends, and realised how much shit we had in common, in the way we create, the way we think”, she came to his studio in LA.
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